Please take a moment out of your busy schedule and have YOUR opinion heard.- Vicki Morrone Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist Michigan State University C.S. Mott Sustainable Food Systems 303 Natural Resources Bldg. East Lansing, MI 48824 517-353-3542 517-282-3557 (cell) 517-353-3834 (fax) http://www.MichiganOrganic.msu.edu/ http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/ ________________________________ From: Judith McGeary [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 4:07 AM To: Vicki Morrone Subject: Reminder - Call Congress about the Farm Bill! Keep up the Calls to Congress About the Farm Bill Thank you to those who have already contacted their Congressmen and the Committees about the Farm Bill! Congress needs to know that we do not want NAIS in the Farm Bill, nor do we want them to pre-empt local and state laws on our food supply. Calling takes just a few minutes, or you can write just one letter and send copies of it to each person. That small investment of time is very important to the survival of independent agriculture! Protecting our rights is a marathon process, not a sprint. The more often they hear from us, and the earlier in the process we get involved, the better. So take a few minutes now, while the Farm Bill is still in draft form, and make your voice heard! And stay tuned for future action alerts, as votes occur and other bills come up. More information, including talking points and contact information, is below. The House Committee on Agriculture is working on a draft version of the Farm Bill that includes two sections that pose a threat to our food supply. The draft language would link the National Animal ID System (NAIS) to Country of Origin Labeling and pre-empt local control of our foods. DRAFT FARM BILL PROVISIONS: Section 121 of the draft would allow the USDA to use a mandatory animal identification system in order to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). This would open the door for the USDA to link the National Animal ID System (NAIS) to COOL, forcing small farms out of business and harming our local food supply. Read more about NAIS and COOL at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/NAIS-and-COOL Section 123 of the draft would bar states or localities from prohibiting any food or agricultural product that USDA has deregulated. This provision would deny local or state and state rights to regulate such things as genetically engineered crops or food. You can read the proposed provisions at http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/Legislation/110/LDP.pdf . The House Committee needs to hear from you NOW! Below is the contact information for the Chair and the Ranking Minority Member of the Committee. Call or write them, using the talking points and a sample letter that are at the end of this alert. And if one or more of the members of the Committee are from your state, send them a copy of your letter as well. We also need to educate the Senate Committee on Agriculture and the rest of Congress, to provide protection against whatever the House Committee may pass. Contact information for the Senate Agriculture Committee, and your Congressman and Senator, are also listed below. TAKE ACTION: Talking points and a sample letter are at the end of this alert. Please write, email, fax, or call following members (listed in order of importance): 1) The Honorable Collin C. Peterson Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture 1305 Longworth House Office Building Washington D.C. 20515 Phone: 202-225-2171 Fax: 202-225-8510 Email: [log in to unmask] 2) The Honorable Bob Goodlatte Ranking Minority Member, House Committee on Agriculture 1305 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-0029 Fax: 202-225-0917 Email: [log in to unmask] 3) Any member of the House Committee on Agriculture who comes from your state. All of the members are listed below, and it's important that the members hear from the people within their state. The members are listed in order of their states (starting with Alabama and ending with Wisconsin). 4) Senator Harkin Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Room SR-328A Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC. 20510-6000 Phone: 202-224-2035 5) Your Congressman and Senator: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm Message: Please strip Sections 121 and 123 from the draft Farm Bill. The law barring the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL should not be changed, and NAIS should not be put into the Farm Bill. Further, the USDA should not be able to pre-empt state and local government control over food safety. As always, if you have any questions, you can contact us at [log in to unmask] or call 866-687-6452. Talking Points * Please strip Sections 121 and 123 from the draft Farm Bill. I oppose both the National Animal ID System (NAIS) and pre-emption of state and local control of our food supply. *Section 121 / National Animal ID System: The law barring the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) should not be changed. --COOL can be implemented simply by requiring that all imports of live animals or food be identified with a country of origin marking. Requiring U.S. livestock owners to individually identify and track all domestic livestock is not necessary. --Using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL would impose heavy burdens on American farmers and ranchers, in both time and money. A National Animal ID System (NAIS) would drive independent ranches and farms in America out of business. --The purpose of COOL is to provide information so that consumers can choose whether to buy domestic or foreign products and, as a hoped-for result, providing American farmers and ranchers with economic rewards for raising food in this country. --NAIS will harm American farmers and ranchers, directly contrary to the goal of COOL. * Section 123 / Federal Pre-emption: Section 123 section would pre-empt the rights of state and local governments to regulate food or agricultural products that USDA has granted "non-regulated" status. This deprives citizens of their rights to enact laws to protect health and public safety at the local level. Local and state governments need to retain their authority to regulate food and agricultural products, including genetically engineered (GE) foods and crops. Sample letter or email If you use email, be sure to put a clear subject line, such as "Keep NAIS and Pre-emption language out of the Draft Farm Bill" Dear Chairman Peterson and Members of the Committee: I ask that you strip Sections 121 and 123 from the draft Farm Bill. Section 121 would allow the USDA to use mandatory animal identification to implement Country of Origin Labeling, while Section 123 would pre-empt state and local laws regulating food and agricultural products. I strongly oppose both provisions. I am a _______ (farmer, consumer, ... Tell them a few sentences about yourself and why you care about this issue) The law barring the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) should not be changed, and the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) should not be added to the Farm Bill. COOL can be implemented by requiring all imported livestock to be identified with a country of origin marking, which is already a requirement for cattle imported from Mexico or Canada. Requiring U.S. cattle producers to individually identify and track all livestock is not necessary. Using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL will impose heavy burdens on American farmers and ranchers, in both time and money. NAIS will drive independent ranches and farms in America out of business. The purpose of COOL is to provide information so that consumers can choose whether to buy domestic or foreign products and, as a hoped-for result, providing American farmers and ranchers with economic rewards for raising food in this country. Mandatory animal identification will harm all Americans' rights and our economy, canceling out the benefits of COOL. In addition, state and local government regulation of our food supply should not be preempted by the USDA. Citizens across the country have sought local and state regulations to address critical concerns, including the use of genetically engineered foods and crops. Section 123 is a back-door means of wiping out state and local food safety laws. This provision has no place in the Farm Bill. Please strip Sections 121 and 123 from the draft Farm Bill, keep NAIS out of the Farm Bill, and protect local control of our food supply. Sincerely, Name Address City, State Zip Email ( if you have it) Cc: Congressman Goodlatte Senator Harkin Senator ___________ (your Senator) Congressman __________ (your Congressman) Members of House Committee on Agriculture Name (State), Phone number, Fax number Members are listed in order of their states (alphabetically). Please contact any members who come from your state. If you want to use e-mail, then go to the Congressperson's website, which you can find at http://www.house.gov/ Terry Everett (AL), (p) 202-225-2901, (f) 202-225-8913 Michael Rogers (AL), (p) 202-225-3261, (f) 202-226-8485 Jo Bonner (AL), (p) 202-225-4931, (f) 202-225-0562 Joe Baca (CA), (p) 202-225-6161, (f) 202-225-8671 Dennis Cardoza (CA), (p) 202-225-6131, (f) 202-225-0819 Jim Costa (CA), (p) 202-225-3341, (f) 202-225-9308 Kevin McCarthy (CA), (202) 225-2915, (f) 202-225-2908 John T. Salazar (CO), (p) 202-225-4761, (f) 202-226-9669 Marilyn Musgrove (CO), (p) 202-225-4676, (f) 202-225-5870 Timothy Mahoney (FL), (p) 202-225-5792, (f) 202-225-3132 David Scott (GA), (p) 202-225-2939, (f) 202-225-4628 Jim Marshall (GA), (p) 202-225-6531, (f) 202-225-3013 John Barrow (GA), (p) 866-890-6236, (f) 202-225-3377 Leonard L. Boswell, (IA), (p) 202-225-3806, (f) 202-225-5608 Steve King (IA), (p) 202-225-4426, (f) 202-225-3193 Timothy Johnson (IL), 202-225-2371, (f) 202-226-0791 Brad Ellsworth (IN), (p) 866-567-0227, (f) 202-225-3284 Joe Donnelly (IN), (p) 202-225-3915, (f) 202-225-6798 Nancy Boyda (KS), (p) 202-225-6601, (f) 202-225-7986 Jerry Moran (KS), (p) 202-225-2715, (f) 202-225-5124 Charles W. Boustany, Hr. (LA), (p) 202-225-2031, (f) 202-225-5724 Tim Walberg (MI), (p) 202-225-6276, (f) 202-225-6281 Collin Peterson (MN), (p) 202-225-2165, (f) 202-225-1593 Timothy J. Walz (MN), (p) 202-225-2472, (f) 202-225-3433 Sam Graves (MO), (p) 202-225-7041, (f) 202-225-8221 Earl Pomeroy, (ND), (p) 202-225-2611, (f) 202-226-0893 Mike McIntyre (NC), (p) 202-225-2731, (f) 202-225-5773 Bob Etheridge (NC), (p) 202-225-4531, (f) 202-225-5662 Robin Hayes, (NC), (p) 202-225-3715, (f)202-225-4036 Virginia Foxx (NC), (p) 202-225-2071, (f) 202-225-2995 Jeff Fortnberry (NE), (p) 202-225-4806, (f) 202-225-5686 Adrian Smith (NE), (p) 202-225-6435, (f) 202-225-0207 Kirsten Gillibrand, (NY), (p) 202-225-5614, (f)202-225-1168 John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. (NY), 202-225-3161, (f) 202-226-6599 Zachary T. Space (OH), (p) 202-225-6265, (f) 330-364-4330 Jean Schmidt (OH), (p) 202-225-3164, (f) 202-225-1992 Frank D. Lucas (OK), (p) 202-225-5565, (f) 202-225-8698 Tim Holden (PA), (p) 202-225-5546, (f) 202-226-0996 Stephanie Herseth Sandline, (SD), (p) 202-225-2801, (f) 202-225-5823 Lincoln Davis, (TN), (p) 202-225-6831, 9f) 202-226-5172 Henry Cuellar (TX), (p) 202-225-1640, (f) 202-225-1641 Mike Conaway (TX), (p) 202-225-3605, (f) 202-225-1783 Randy Neugebauer (TX), (p) 202-225-4005, (f) 202-225-9615 Nicholas Lampson (TX), (p) 202-225-5951, (f) 202-225-5241 Bob Goodlatte (VA), (p) 202-225-5431, (f) 202-225-9681 Steve Kagen (WI), (p) 202-225-5665, (f) 202-225-5729 Make Sure You Receive Our Emails Because of the bulk email programs and ISP restrictions, not every email alert gets to every subscriber. Please add this [log in to unmask] to your white list, and check your spam filter for blocked messages. If you have not been getting regular alerts, you can check our website to see what you've been missing. Past alerts are posted at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/action-alerts Working together, we can make our voices heard. Judith McGeary Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance www.farmandranchfreedom.org (p) 512-243-9404 (toll free) 866-687-6452 ________________________________ This email service uses active, trackable links. If they do not come through your email properly, or you are not comfortable with them, you can always find the materials by navigating our website. Forward email This email was sent to [log in to unmask], by [log in to unmask] Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe (tm) | Privacy Policy . Email Marketing by Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance | 8308 Sassman Rd | Austin | TX | 78747 If you would like to access previous postings to the Mich-Organic listserv you can copy and paste the following URL into your browser address bar http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html